Misfits
by themourningsage12
Summary: A lonely daughter of Nyx with a terrible curse. A dorky son of Pluto who doesn't quite live up to the name. An innocent daughter of Hecate who's about to learn how awful the world really is. Join Raina, Amicus and Kali's quest to save demigods from one threat they have never faced-darkness itself.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

* * *

><p><span>RAINA<span>

* * *

><p>Raina Starfall did not have many needs or wishes. Actually, she had one, and one only.<p>

She wished for another mother.

She would see the daughters of Jupiter and Neptune and Apollo and Minerva and even Pluto, falling in love, having friends, living normally(for a demigod, that is), and she would wish she could be like them.

However, it seemed the Fates particularly disliked her.

Raina Luna Starfall was not a daughter of Mercury, or Apollo, or Athena, like she would've wanted. She was the one, only, and very lonely daughter of Nyx, the goddess of night.

Often, Raina was called an abomination-the mere thought of Night itself falling in love with a mortal man was almost impossible. And yet Raina existed. And she wished she didn't.

It wasn't like Raina was suicidal. In fact, Raina didn't want to die quite yet. She was afraid she hadn't been noble enough in this world, and she wouldn't get Elysium, getting the Fields of Asphodel instead. She did not want to spend eternity living as a sad, lost soul in the barren fields.

But still, Raina strongly disliked her rather unhappy life. She was a lonely girl.

Nyx, being a primordial goddess, was extremely powerful. Her demigod children (or demigod child) were powerful, strong, and almost fearless. However, being so powerful came with a price.

When Raina was born from the snow and dust of a comet and the light of a dying star, and carried down to the earth by a nightingale in a cradle of ebony, most of the Olympians were afraid her power would surpass their own children's, and she would overthrow Olympus, paving the way for her mother to take their place. And so they placed two terrible curses on the child.

The first is that she would remain lonely and distant forever, for whenever she got too close to someone, he or she would die.

The second, and the most terrible, was that she would die painfully and slowly before she turned seventeen.

The first curse took away Raina's kindergarten best friend, her father, her best friend in Camp Jupiter(in various ways), and was slowly killing her uncle with lung cancer, before she had found out about her curses on her fifteenth birthday.

The curse was cruel-she had the biggest crush on Caelius "Cal" Grace, praetor of New Rome, the son of the legendary Jason Grace and Piper McLean, who was already going out with Laelia Jackson, the daughter of (the even more legendary) Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. She knew it was hopeless, and that Cal would never even notice a lowly Fifth Cohort legionnaire like her, but she still couldn't suppress the admiration that rose in her chest whenever she looked at him, and then the pain that followed.

And she really, really tried not to think about how she had less than a year to live, seeing as her seventeenth birthday was only five months away. It would've helped if her death could be quick and painless, but now she knew she would die in probably the worst possible way. Like from humiliation if Cal found out about her crush on him. Ha. Ha. Ha.

This particular day, however, was a war games day, Raina's favorite day of the week, and she could not wait for evening. Even if most of the time she didn't win, she loved the rush of a fight, the feeling of power in her veins as she sped like a shadow across the battle field. It was also a bit more fun this year-she was finally made a centurion, even if the other one was Julia Kahale, the daughter of the much-feared Michael Kahale and one of the scariest, most unpleasant people she had ever met. She was also augur (apparently augur was reserved for the worst of people-wonderful), which meant she knew a lot of secrets about Raina that gave her a lot of leverage on her. They often argued-Julia always gave harsh punishments for no good reason, and used her rank to boss the Fifth Cohort around, while Raina tried to pass judgment as fairly as she could. Currently, the Fifth Cohort was torn between two centurions-they wanted to listen to Raina because she was fairer, but they often listened to Julia out of fear of her position and power. Besides, nobody really knew Raina-she sat alone at dinner, didn't participate in friendly conversations, and avoided people, out of fear that her curse would take yet another life. So the others just thought she had some sort of antisocial disorder.

She was sharpening her _gladius _when she heard the explosion.

She looked up to see legionnaires rushing towards the general direction of the Little Tiber, shouting and running and shoving. She stopped one guy and asked, "What is going on?"  
>"Monsters at the gates," was all he gasped before he pulled out of her grip and continued his sprint for the gates. Raina, grabbing her scythe (she had found it on her thirteenth birthday and liked to think that it was a present from her mother) and dropping the <em>gladius, <em>followed the rest of the legion's lead.

After a few minutes of running, she arrived at the Little Tiber, where a crowd had already formed. Raina could barely make out anything above the heads of others, but she could see what seemed to be a bunch of Cyclopes.

Suddenly, the air got colder, and heavier. The ground opened up. Around ten or so skeletons clawed their way up to the surface and seemed to attack the Cyclopes. In around five or so horrifying minutes, the Cyclopes had been reduced to dust and the skeletons crumbled back into bones. She heard an awed whisper. "A son of Pluto."

Pluto? Raina had to see this. She pushed her way through the crowd. In front of the Little Tiber stood a boy maybe her age. In his hands he held one of those kitchen knives. It was stained with blood. He had longish dark hair that framed his face, and dark green eyes that seemed to be confused, afraid, and amazed at the same time. He was holding the knife like, _I have a knife and I'm not afraid to use it! _He looked scrawny and travel-worn, and very, very clueless. He actually looked kind of like a puppy.

Caelius stepped forward. "Who are you?"

The new kid looked nervous. He wrung his hands. "I'm…Amicus. Amicus Grave."

"We will question you at the principia," Allison Stephens, daughter of Mercury, the other praetor, commanded, her voice strong and steady, resonating around them. "But you need an escort. Hm..."

Of all people she could've chosen, her vibrant green gaze rested on Raina. "Starfall! You will be the escort to Mr. Grave here."

Oh, great.

"Yes, praetor," Raina said wearily, saluting half-heartedly. Allison shrugged.

She closed her eyes and opened them again. Caelius and Allison were already ordering the other legionnaires back to their activities, while the new guy, Amicus, warily made his way towards her.

"Come on," she said, her voice clipped. It came out harsher than it meant to, and the poor boy looked scared half to death (ha, ha, son of Pluto, death, get over it). Raina did look rather creepy. Oh, well. Better to scare him off.

* * *

><p><span>AMICUS<span>

* * *

><p>Amicus was really fed up with being a demigod.<p>

The wolves had been okay. Strange, but okay. The journey from Philadelphia to Berkeley had been long and hard, but fine, he could handle it. The monsters, especially those pesky Cyclopes, had been pushing it.

But his "escort", as General Blondie had most delicately put it, was the last straw.

Amicus was going to admit it; that chick was scary. An inch or two shorter than him, but scary, especially with that Grim Reaper stick of death she was holding. He'd heard of Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold and Stygian Iron swords and knives, and bows and arrows, and clubs and maces, and spears and javelins, and shields too. But seriously, what kind of demigod carried a freaking _scythe?_

She took off her helmet and got a good look at him. Amicus' ADHD went, _hey, she's actually kind of pretty. _She had long dark hair the curled around itself at her waist, and pale, clear skin. Her eyes, dark blue, like the night sky, bored into his green ones with such an intensity that he had to look away.

"Welcome to Camp Jupiter!" she feigned enthusiasm. "You're a son of Pluto, right?"

He nodded. His mother had told him so on the very day he found out he was a demigod.

She lowered her voice so the praetors couldn't hear. "That means you have to lay low. Demigods get uneasy about underworld gods like Pluto and Somnus and Nyx. One mistake, and you could be kicked out of the legion and taint the name of your brothers and sisters forever. Of course, being a relative of Hazel Levesque and Nico di Angelo's, there may be some leniency…"

"Who are those?" He asked. He'd heard of the di Angelo name once-some famous heart surgeon, maybe…but he couldn't be sure. "Isn't the di Angelo guy a doctor or something?"

Starfall (was that what Blondie called her?) shrugged. "He's a son of Hades-the Greek form of Pluto. He grew up to be a famous heart surgeon. He's known even more in the demigod world for being the first-ever demigod to go through Tartarus, which is basically Greek hell, alone and live to tell the tale-at the age of fourteen." She spoke about him with awe. "As for Hazel Levesque, she was one of the seven demigods who saved us all in the second Giant War, which was like twenty or thirty years ago or something. Of course, now their glory days are over, so they don't stick around at camp much. None of the real legends do, really. Anyway, Lupa explained the Giant and Titan Wars, right?"

"Yeah," he said. He still remembered the disbelief he felt the day Mama Wolf and her clan came to get him. They'd trained at the Wolf House and then left him to go to Camp Jupiter on his own.

"Yeah, well, anyway, don't use that as an excuse to slack off, okay? By the looks of you, you'll be in my cohort, and I'm one of the centurions, and if you step a hair out of line I'll throw you in a sack with a rooster and give you and Cluck a swim in the Little Tiber. Am I understood?" She said, her eyes narrowed and hostile, like she was _trying _to get him to hate her.

"Huh?" What? What was a cohort? What was a centurion? What was going on?

She rolled her eyes and began to explain to him how things worked in the legion. Basically, the First Cohort had all the privileges and stuff, and it got worse the lower you got on the food chain, until you hit rock bottom, AKA the Fifth Cohort, the Cohort Grumpy Cat, his perfectly grouchy escort, was in, which was where all the losers went.

Amicus was _so _sure he'd be in it, given his wonderful luck lately.

She then explained the pegasus program with the Greeks, and how one day he could go in his free time once he became used to the life in the legion. She said after the questioning(she said it would blow over) and the augury(she warned him not to blow up-in annoyance, that is, but she didn't explain why there was a possibility) they would get his weapons and things, and maybe train him a little bit for "war games" whatever that was.

Amicus looked around. " I see…dead people." He said.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Those would be the Lares, or the household gods," she explained. "Humor them and they can give you pointers. Anger them and they can pull nasty pranks on you. Yes, stop gaping, those are unicorns. We don't ride them, so don't even think about it."

"Then what's the point of this stupid camp if we can't ride unicorns?"  
>"Oh, I dunno, maybe provide a safe sanctuary for demigods everywhere?" she said, feigning surprise.<p>

Amicus sighed. He hoped that not everyone was like this, or he'd be in for a very hard year. Or two. Or three. Who knew?

After he got over his initial trance with the unicorns, he spotted a guy with…were those goat legs? And horns? He was walking along, waving to his goat friends and high-fiving legionnaires. "Is that Mr. Tumnus?" he asked in disbelief.

"We're in Camp Jupiter, not Narnia," she said scornfully. Gee, what a surprise. "What you call _Mr. Tumnus _is called a faun. Just thank the gods above that they aren't homeless anymore ever since Grover Underwood did that _Fauns are People Too! _campaign. They work as counselors for the younger kids, and on the Greek side they find demigods and bring them to camp."

After a while, Amicus said, "What's your name, anyways?"

She tensed, then relaxed. "Raina Luna Starfall," she said quietly.

"Who are you the daughter of?"

She froze, and didn't relax this time. Amicus wondered if he'd crossed the line. "Nyx," she said icily, without looking at him. "The goddess of night." She remained coldly silent the rest of the way. Amicus wondered if all demigods were this touchy about the subject.

A few moments of walking later, they arrived at what Raina called the _principia. _She said it was kind of like the headquarters for the praetors.

They entered to find a oval-shaped table, with a chair at each end. Raina remained standing respectfully, holding her scythe like she was a guard. In the meantime, the praetors seated themselves in the chairs. The dude picked a jelly bean off the bowl full of them in the center of the table.

"So," the girl said, as if attempting an awkward conversation. "Amicus Grave. Son of Pluto. We don't get a lot of those, even if we're getting hordes of Jupiter and Neptune kids. Where are you from?"

"Philadelphia."

"Do you know if your mother is aware of your father's true identity?"

"She was aware," Amicus said, his voice clipped and sharp all of a sudden, the way it did when he didn't want to talk about something. She and her coworker shared a meaningful glance. They caught the meaning of the word _was. _He even saw Raina soften a tiny bit, her eyes lowered to the ground; her dutiful scowl turning more into a sad frown. A knowing frown. Hm.

After a pause, the girl said, "We express our condolences, Amicus. It is not uncommon for our kind to lose their mortal parent while growing up."

The boy nodded grimly.

"Moving on," he said, after heaving a long, awkward sigh, "You went through the usual training with Lupa, right?"

He nodded.

"You know the full extent of your powers?"

"Not really," Amicus said. "The skeleton thing was an accident the first time, really."

"As expected," the girl said, her tone relieved. With a start, he realized she was afraid of him.

The rest of the questioning went smoothly, with questions like if he had dyslexia and ADHD (he did), if he had any siblings he knew of(he didn't), and other stupid questions Amicus thought they were only asking him because it was a standard procedure or something.

Later, after being dismissed, Raina took him to the temples. "Where are we going?" he asked her.

"To get your augury," she said grimly as she wove her way through temples. "To determine if you can be accepted in the legion or not. They're performed by the augur, who, in the old days, used to use animal entrails. Now, she uses…" She said this as they stepped into the biggest temple of all. He could make out a figure seemingly summoning red lightning and cutting something.

"Teddy bears?"

"Less messy," she said shortly, and gave him a look, like, _leave the talking to me. _He sensed that the augur wasn't a very nice person.

A toga-clad figure turned around, the hand holding the knife resting on her hip. A bunch of stuffed animals hung from her belt. Stringy brown hair hung loosely around her shoulders, and her blue eyes seemed to be analyzing the best way to gut him alive. She sneered. "Well, well, Starfall has a new friend!" she said with fake enthusiasm.

"Shut up and do his augury, Julia," Raina growled.

"That's no way to speak to someone higher in rank than you," Julia said absently, infuriatingly examining her knife.

"You and I are both centurions of the Fifth Cohort. You are no higher than I am," Raina replied, like she was fighting to stay calm.

"Ah, but you forget. I'm augur. That's more than you will _ever _be, am I right?"

Raina looked ready to kill, but instead, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. Her voice was cold, harsh, and quietly calm."You're slacking on the job. I can report this to the praetors."

Julia looked smug. "Mm-hm." She took a teddy bear off her belt and brutally murdered it, taking her time. Finally, she looked up, smiling wickedly. "Amicus can join the legion. _Wonderful." _Amicus didn't like the way she said _wonderful. _

Raina roughly grabbed his arm and began dragging him out of the Temple. But Julia wasn't done yet. "Oh, and, word of advice, Amicus," she called. "Try not to hang out with nobodies like Centurion Starfall over there. They tend to be a, ah, bad influence." She laughed hysterically, like it was a hilarious joke.

Raina's grip became even more vice-like on his wrist as she dragged him out. He could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. Amicus didn't really know Raina, and wasn't even sure he liked her very much, but he didn't like the way Julia treated her, like she was blackmailing her or something.

"Why don't you fight back?" Amicus made the mistake of asking.

Raina whipped around, and spoke so fiercely Amicus took a step back. "Being augur, she knows a lot of secrets about everyone. Secrets I very much wish to keep," she said angrily. "And please refrain from asking about my personal life anymore. I don't like it."

Gee, all he did was ask.

* * *

><p><span>KALI<span>

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, a very happy twelve year old named Kali Trix was having an <em>awesome <em>day at the legion, as usual. Her mother had visited her in a Mistform, teaching her a few more spells and incantations (seeing as her mother was Hecate, the goddess of magic, this wasn't strange), the swordfighting instructor said she was improving, and her letter back from her dad came.

Kali's dad was a magician. He worked in a circus, which didn't get him a lot of money, but as he always said, "Money is worthless next to love." And he did love his job, being a magician. He wasn't like those con artists, though, with their standard pull-a-rabbit-out-of-a-hat crap. He was a real magician, with voodoo dolls and such, except her dad wasn't spooky and mysterious. Her dad was fun and dorky, like her.

Anyways, since he lived in the mortal world, traveling with his circus, and Kali lived in Camp Jupiter, they exchanged letters, delivered by Mercury Express(it's never failed once and it's with the dirt cheap price of two denarii per letter.)

Generally, Kali thought her life was pretty good. She'd never been exposed to monsters much-only six months ago, her dad had sent her here with the wolves straight to camp, and her life had been drills, war games, and happy evenings with hot chocolate, brownies, and her friends ever since. It was really fun, especially when your mom visited in your free time and taught you incantations. By now, Kali knew at least a hundred- from making a person excrete natural gases to making small purple fireballs.

In Roman terms, Kali was still a newbie. The other kids in the Fifth still treated her like a kid, despite the fact that she got her first stripe last month when she saved that six year old from falling into the Little Tiber. But she didn't really care. The older kids let her sit at their tables at dinner and breakfast, and made small talk with her.

She glanced at her forearm. Two crossed torches, the symbol of her mother, with SPQR underneath, and a single line. She couldn't wait to get nine more.

As she laced up her boots, after a nice plunge in the baths, she glanced into the foggy mirror in front of her. Curly blondish brown hair that was already beginning to frizz under a brightly colored bandanna framed a round, fair face, with two big, innocent, bright blue eyes above a button nose sprinkled with freckles. With a final grin at the mirror, Kali gathered her belongings and bounded out of the Baths. As she exited among the other legionnaires, she could hear snippets of gossip; how a new son of Pluto had arrived at camp. Kali wished she had been there to see it for herself. Unfortunately, that morning, she had been serving an extra-harsh punishment from Julia; as a result of laughing when Julia had tripped on her toga, Kali had been forced to spend her morning cleaning the longest street of New Rome with a toothbrush and bleach.

She raced to the formation. If she was late, she'd serve another punishment of Julia's, and this time, it would be even harsher. She'd gotten her spear and sword, despite the fact that Kali could easily take care of anyone using magic. But rules were rules, and Rome was all about rules.

She took her place near the back of the Fifth Cohort; being young and inexperienced, she was often placed at the back. She didn't mind. In a year or two she was sure she would be near the front. She could hear the praetors taking attendance.

"Kali Trix!"  
>"Here!" she squeaked.<p>

Eventually, the attendance ended, and then the announcing of war games, _ave ave, _blah blah blah, and finally they came to the topic of the new kid.

She strained her ears to listen to what Cal was saying.

"…Newbie, Amicus Grave, son of Pluto!" Cal announced. A kid, maybe sixteen or seventeen, walked, then tripped on his shoes as he made his way to the front of the legion. A few people snickered, but Kali studied him closely. A shock of dark hair, kind of scrawny-definitely a son of Pluto. They'd once learned the differences that separated one demigod from another, like how children of Neptune always had green eyes or how children of Mars tended to be big and broad. They didn't always apply-Kali was proof of that-but it was useful if a certain god or goddess didn't want to cooperate.

Cal said, "Before he can be claimed by a cohort, where is your letter, if you have one?" The kid, Amicus, fumbled around with his pockets, then pulled out a seedy-looking piece of paper. Allison took it. "Authorization from…Connor Stoll. A Greek, but a somewhat famous war veteran, so, fair enough. Who will stand for Amicus Grave?"

Nobody raised a hand. Nobody said anything. Kali suddenly felt sorry for the guy. He needed someone to stand for him. Suddenly, and idea bloomed in Kali's head.

"I will stand for him!" She piped up, bouncing up and down so people could see her. One of the things Kali didn't like about herself was how short she was; so short people often mistook her for someone younger than her age.

The crowd parted so the praetors could see her. She saw Raina holding her hand to her face while Julia looked coldly amused. Cal and Allison looked surprised. "Er…alright, then. Kali Trix?"

She nodded.

"Kali Trix, daughter of Hecate, do you accept the full responsibility of Amicus Grave?"

"I do."  
>"Then Amicus Grave has officially joined the Fifth Cohort!"<p>

Weak applause sounded throughout the clearing. Somebody gave a courageous whoop. Kali admired that person.

Cal put the _probatio_ tablet around the kid's neck and whispered something in Amicus' ear, then realization dawned on the guy's face and he ran to join Kali.

The praetors allowed them to go to the forum for dinner, and then Kali spun around and stuck her hand out. "Hi, new kid!" Kali said cheerfully. "I'm Kali, Kali Trix, daughter of Hecate!"

Amicus seemed surprised by her enthusiasm. "Amicus Grave," he said slowly. "Son of Pluto."

"Oh, this is going to be so great!" Kali said. "I can show you around, and tutor you on demigod history, and help you with Latin, and maybe we'll have the same monster class, and then we'll take you to the armory and you can get your _gladius _and your _pilia, _and your armor, and we can be in the war games together, and-"

"Whoa, whoa," Amicus made a stop gesture with his hands, though he was smiling. "One at a time, there, kid."

"Oops. Sorry. I get really excited. Come on, let's get to dinner, you'll love it," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him in the direction of the forum. On their way there, Kali told Amicus about all the things she loved about the legion and New Rome, making it sound so wonderful and happy that it was almost Elysium. She wasn't really sure he was listening very well, but she was happy that she was the one in charge for once, instead of being the one in charge of.

They arrived at the forum. Kali was already pulling him towards the table she usually sat at when Amicus said, "Why don't we sit with Raina?"

Kali was surprised. Why would he want to sit with Raina Starfall? She was kind of gloomy, in Kali's opinion. "Why? I think Raina likes to be alone. She doesn't sit with anyone."

"Well, why not change that?" the son of Pluto countered.

Kali considered. Really, why not? What was the worst that could happen? "You have a point. Let's go."

Raina looked startled when she saw Kali and Amicus plopping into the seats in front of her. She had already begun on her mac and cheese.

"May I help you?" Raina asked.

"We just want to sit here," Kali said, flashing a wide grin. "Figured you'd be a bit lonely."

Raina looked at her weird. Then she said, "Um…sure."

Kali thought hard about what she wanted to eat, and it appeared for her-her dad's homemade cheeseburger, and the punch they always served at the circus her dad worked for.

"So…" Kali said. "Any plans for war games?"

"Not really," Raina said absently. "We're on offense again."

"Why do they always put us on offense?" Kali asked.

"Why do the First and Second get the best of everything?" Raina answered with a question. "It's called a century-old grudge, Kali."

"You mean the eagle thing?" Kali wanted to know. "That's ridiculous. That quest to Alaska twenty years ago recovered it, right? And the members of that quest were all in the Fifth!"

"Some things never change, Kali," Raina sighed. "You can fight for your rights and your beliefs and for your reputation as long as you want, but if humans are convinced of something, they won't change about it. It's how we operate."

"Pessimism," Amicus coughed. Raina shot him a venomous glare Kali was glad she wasn't the receiving end of.

"Looks like little Raina Starfall made some new fweinds!" Julia appeared out of nowhere, smiling in a nasty way, talking in a baby voice. "A son of Pluto and a daughter of Hecate. You sure do keep good company, Starfall."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amicus demanded.

"Nothing you understand, newbie," Julia said. "Be careful, Raina. You might get-gasp!-attached to them."

"Don't you have somewhere to be a loser in, Julia?" Raina said, her voice like poison.

"For your information, _you _are the loser, sweetie. No friends, no family, destined to-" Julia was cut off by Raina, who looked frantic.

"I think I can see Cal and Allison looking our way," Raina said, her voice a little desperate. "How do you think they'll like a someone bullying the newbie?"

Julia rolled her eyes. "Losers," she said, smiling wickedly. "Really. You guys are such losers. It makes perfect sense for you guys to sit together. I think you should start a band called the Losers. Or, no, wait." She smiled acidly. "How about the Misfits?" she laughed as she sauntered away.

"I really hate that girl," Kali said as she watched her sashay away. "She's so mean."

"It's a camp trait," Raina said, shaking her head, while slightly smiling.

Amicus studied her carefully. "I guess it does."

* * *

><p><strong>All, right! That was Chapter One of Misfits! I FINALLY FINISHED WRITING IT! WOO!<strong>

**OK, first off, I'd like to say a few things. I wanted to write Misfits because I wanted to shed light on some of the darker parts of Greek/Roman Mythology, the PJO/HoO world, and, ultimately, humanity. I want to write more about the more ignored parts of the books-Underworld gods, Camp Jupiter(YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE!), and some glossed-over things. It's not rated T, at least for now, but go away if you like funny one-shots and Percabeth fluff(I love Percabeth as much as the next person, but this isn't a high school AU if that's what you came for, and somehow didn't notice). **

**I'd also like to say: I know the cover image is of another book/Tv show/anime character called Danica, but the cover is what I envisioned Raina to look like, so, yes, I'm aware that the person in the art isn't even part of the PJO/HoO universe. **

**Also:**

**I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS OR HEROES OF OLYMPUS. THOSE BELONG TO RICK RIORDAN.**

**I DO NOT OWN THE COVER ART, IT BELONGS TO AMAZING ARTIST VIRIA13. **

**This is the first and last disclaimer I'm doing, because disclaimers are stupid. I'm obviously not Rick or Viria. **

**Don't expect a lot of "original" characters in here. As said, their glory days are over. There might be a mentioning or two, and one character is going to be particularly focused on, but other than that, this is mostly going to be OC's, which I promise will not be Mary-Sues. **

**AND IF YOU HAVE NOTHING GOOD TO SAY, DON'T EFFING SAY ANYTHING AT ALL. THIS GOES TO YOU, OC-HATERS, AND YOU, GRAMMAR POLICE. I accept constructive criticism, but if you're going to go:**

**"Ur fnfic is stupid and dum fuk u" or "In line 10 word six you misspelled you're" than get the hell out of here. I'm not gonna respond, and not going to be affected, but I'd rather my reviews be coherent, intelligent REVIEWS, not some kid who enjoys insulting people. And I know my effing grammar. I use Microsoft Word. I HAVE SPELL CHECK. IT'S CALLED A TYPO, EVER HEARD OF IT?**

**I'm not going to be random and be an extra-cheerful author who puts author notes in the middle of the story, because this story is mostly dark and gritty. I take my writing seriously, and despite popular belief, fanfiction is real literature. It's so real 50 Shades of Grey got published and got millions of dollars, and it was a Twilight fanfiction originally, I heard(figures it was a Twilight fanfic). Even though I don't really think 50 Shades of Grey is real literature. But I digress.**

**AND DON'T SWEAR IN THE REVIEWS, PLEASE. I don't need to hear vulgar language to know you liked or disliked my story. There are many, many words in the English language. Use the good ones, for my sake and yours.**

**And don't be a hater if I don't do super-fast updates. I'm a human being. I have a life outside of this. I don't spend my entire day on this website. I have homework, a family, and other writing projects. Be human.**

**One last thing. If you're uncomfortable by words such as "hell" "fricking" "dam" "schist"(these exact forms, not the real ones) than I advise you to leave. The main characters are adolescent, they need to swear in _some_ way. This isn't the goddamn Sesame Street.**

**I dedicate this chapter, and story, to my best friend in real life, malkimo12, who, besides helping me out of a really dark time in my life and sticking by my side through thick and thin, is an all-around awesome person and supports all my stories, fanfic or not. She doesn't have any fanfics yet, but if she does in future, I advise you to go read them. She's pretty cool. Stay awesome, Loki!**

** -The Mourning Sage**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

* * *

><p><span>RAINA<span>

* * *

><p>Raina was confused, of a sort.<p>

Her stay-away-from-me act was foolproof. Avoid eye contact, act suspicious, be mean and abandon him. It worked all the time on the other demigods. They avoided her. They were safe.

But now Kali McCheerful Trix and Amicus McNosy Grave were sitting at her table, attempting conversation with her. Did they _want _to die?

_Of course they don't, _Raina scolded herself. _They don't know about the curse. _ She tried to be as quiet as possible. She didn't laugh at Kali's jokes, even if they were funny, hilariously so. She answered questions with as little information as possible. She ate as quickly as she could. Amicus kept trying to drag her into the conversation, but Raina resisted. Couldn't they see that she wanted to be alone?

It was a relief, pure relief, when dinnertime ended and it was time for war games. At least she could get away from them now, being a centurion. She could tell them to "do whatever" and then have her fun on the battlefield. The thought filled her with triumph. Nothing like rankings to keep people away from each other.

As the Fifth Cohort lined up, Raina thought about the assignment they had received from the Third and Fourth. _We're throwing you at the walls to soften up the defenses. _ Raina had almost sighed and said _, as usual. _She saw Kali and Amicus near the back of the formation. She internally grinned.

"Rory, Tara, Gillian, Sammy," she said. "Go west and try to sneak through the defenses. Ariana, Drake, Suki, Uriah-you guys are our Greeks, go as creatively and unorthodox as you can. The rest, move in turtle formation, and fight like it's the Giant War all over again, you hear me? And, Kali-show the newbie what you do in war games and try not to get him killed."

Julia was silent, watching Raina in something that wasn't derision, which alarmed her a bit. Something was wrong. Julia's arctic blue gaze was thoughtful, and apprehensive. Julia had seen something in her prophecies.

She looked up and saw Cal and Allison circling the field on pegasi. The Greek ambassador sat on a high tower, curling her hands around her eyes like binoculars. The sky was a dark, dark blue, with a sprinkling of stars like blown-away glitter.

_Mom, _Raina prayed. _I know you despise me enough to kill me before I'm even a legitimate adult, but hear me out. If you help us win this time, people actually might start liking you. That's all I have to say. Peace, your forgotten and downtrodden mistake of a daughter, Raina._

Yeah, that was probably how most prayers between Raina and her mother were like. Messed up.

By then, the games had began. Raina hollered a fierce war cry, brandished her scythe, and plunged into one of the only things she didn't hate in her life. Mostly her looks were enough to scare people away, with the fearsome scythe and dark energy and all that jazz, but some people really were Romans and stood and fought. It was some of the best fun Raina had had all week.

As she fought, she wondered about the incident with Amicus and Kali at dinner, and Julia's strange behavior. Why had they suddenly taken such an interest in her? She'd acted mean, cold, and gloomy. A total turn-off. Why had they stuck with her? And why had Amicus stared at her so steadily, as if he expected something from her? The whole situation was so puzzling.

Not to mention Julia's strange lack of hostility, and how she had nodded tersely to Raina when the games began, like, _Beware. _Her icy blue eyes, usually derisive and mocking, were serious and even a little afraid.

Raina had this talent for multitasking, so she kept thinking as she scared people away. Her senses had been on edge the last few days…something wasn't right. She could feel dark energies stirring, murky forces being disturbed, like some impish, no-good god or monster had waken them from a deep sleep. Clouds gathered overhead, and Raina heard thunder, loud angry _booms _ like massive collisions of winds. Almost like Jupiter was trying to warn them.

That was, until, darkness erupted, and Raina wasn't the source for once.

People screamed. Some people shouted curses and profanities in a number of languages. She could hear Cal holler, "EVERYONE STAY CALM AND WHERE YOU ARE!" Somebody bumped into her as she stood rooted to the spot, nearly impaling herself on her scythe, trying to push away all of the darkness and evil coming at her in waves. The fact that she couldn't control all of these shadows almost terrified her. She had night vision-she usually could see as perfectly in the dark as she could in the light. This type of darkness was strange; like it was solid darkness instead of just the absence of light. She felt like she was suffocating, the air turning heavier, and pulling at her hair, then pushing at it, like some huge giant was breathing on her. There was a sound with the breathing too; an unsettling, inhale-exhale sound that frayed Raina's nerves. With each breath came a new wave of fear.

The screams eventually died down, leading to an eerie silence, broken only by the breathing and chirping of crickets. Suddenly, Raina heard a voice in her head, a calm, fluid voice that induced horror into her, like a calm murderer. She somehow knew she was the only one who heard the voice. It echoed in her head, reverberated and bounced around, so it made her nauseous and gave her the beginnings of a migraine.

_Greetings, little sister, _the voice said with fake cheer. _The youngest of Nyx's brood…_

_Go away, _she thought, shaking her head furiously, trying to get the voice out of her head. _Get out of here! YOU'RE NOT WELCOME!_

_Now, now, _the voice chided her. He spoke in a baby voice _Is that a way to treat your big brother? I only came to clear things up. _He paused, then chuckled. _So to speak, that is._

Raina growled. She hated it when she was helpless. Especially if it had to do with her mother. _I said, GO AWAY! _And she pushed him out with such force that she momentarily felt his presence dissolve.

The voice sounded grudgingly impressed. _Not bad, not bad, _he said approvingly. _A little more hate next time, though, I'm feeling the love. _He aggravated her more than Amicus, and that was saying something. She couldn't believe this stupid god or monster or whatever that was invading her mind, the only place she had for herself.

His voice amplified, and, hearing it echo off of the environment surrounding her, Raina knew everyone could hear.

_I applaud you, demigods, to be able to think you were safe for the last twenty years, _the voice drawled, infuriating Raina and frightening her at the same time. _Fortunately, you were not. I am the darkness that swallows all light. I am Him Who Terrifies. I am the Keeper of the Sleeping. And I shall be the one to rise and attack your puny camps in ten days. I implore you to try to stop me; being stopped is quite amusing by my standards, since I am never truly stopped. Send your darkest. Send your strangest. I love a good fight._

_Goodnight, little demigods._

The voice faded away, and so did the breathing, so the demigods were standing in pitch black, silently.

One voice piped up, "What are we gonna do now?"

* * *

><p><span>AMICUS<span>

* * *

><p>He felt Kali shift uneasily next to him. Apparently she was afraid of the dark, deathly afraid. But she didn't scream or panic. She had a different sort of fear. Her type was latching onto his arm in a death-grip and freezing. Amicus didn't even know if she was breathing.<p>

He heard her take deep breaths, and mutter stuff that sounded like…Italian? Something like that. It almost sounded like a prayer. Finally, she whispered, "_Incantare: sidus et veneficam lucem." _Amicus' head instantly translated the words. Incantation: orb of witch's light. Soon enough, a violet orb of light flickered in Kali's cupped hands. She sighed in relief.

The spectral glow cast by the orb illuminated Kali's face in a new way. She didn't look happy or cheerful or elf-like as before. She looked…gaunt. Terrified. The light washed out all the color of Kali's face, all either white, purple, or black. It was sort of creepy. Amicus had known Kali for less than three hours, but he never wanted to see the cheerful kid like that again.

Slowly, Kali's spell triggered a chain reaction of "_Incantares" _all around the Field of Mars. Soon enough, the children of Hecate were the main sources of light, sprinkled here and there like party balloons. There were only five of them in the legion currently, seeing as children of Hecate were more popular on the Greek side, so there wasn't a lot of light.

And just like that, people began talking, shouting, whispering, gossiping all at once. The Field of Mars erupted with sound. Allison and Cal were trying to shut people up, no avail. Two hundred (more or less) ADHD demigods who had just experienced a mind-blowing experience were simply uncontrollable.

Finally, the Greek ambassador, who was apparently a daughter of Apollo and had a supersonic scream, shrieked, "WILL EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL-FRICKING HADES UP?"

Weapons clattered as people reached for their ears. Amicus' own ears ached; that girl had lungs, for sure. A few "ahs" and "Ouchs" sounded throughout the field. One person swore loudly. Amicus had a sneaking suspicion it was Julia.

Allison took her hands away from her ears. "Thank you, Amara," she thanked the Greek resignedly. "War games tonight are cancelled, everybody." (No way.) "Cohorts are to return to their designated barracks and stay there for the rest of the night. Centurions are to lead their cohorts to the barracks and then report to the principia for guarding positions. For your own safety, do not disobey these orders."

It took at least half an hour for all the cohorts to find each other and their centurions and form into proper formation for marching resolutely out of the Field of Mars. _One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four- _Amicus mirrored his cohort's footsteps, so he looked like a regular Roman good boy. Kali was having trouble, though. Her legs were pretty short and she kept tripping over her shoelaces. It caused tons of tiny disturbances.

Finally, they arrived in the lightening darkness at the barracks, where Kali quickly showed him where he would be sleeping. It was the bunk below hers, so he wouldn't have any trouble finding her in the morning. They all stood next to their bunks so the centurions could take attendance.

When Raina read his name off the list, her eyes skimmed over him indifferently, like he was some idiot she didn't know who just happened to be accepted into her cohort. Amicus didn't know why he felt so hurt; she was just an ungrateful little brat who hated people and didn't want a social life. He shouldn't care. He didn't care. End of story.

Amicus expected them to all get to sleep as Raina and Julia told them as they left, but they left the candle lit (Mr. Spooky caused a major blackout) and talked and joked with each other. Amicus sort of liked the camaraderie between the legionnaires as they poked gentle fun at each other and laughed and gossiped. It was almost like the "attack" had never happened. Amicus knew this was how Romans behaved-serious and disciplined on duty, but goofy teenagers like they were supposed to be after hours. He could live like this. Maybe the legion wasn't as bad as he thought.

Kali hung her head above his bunk, startling him. Her curly hair was in a bun and her bandanna was still on, but otherwise, she looked just as hyper as before. "What are you mopin' about, bloodhound?" she said. "Branch out! Have some fun!"

"I'll be having fun for the next ten years, Kali," Amicus grumbled.

She stuck her tongue out. "Killjoy," she called him. "I was wrong about calling you a bloodhound. Bloodhounds are cute."

"Go and frolic with your friends, Pixie Sunshine," he retorted. Somehow, his mood had drastically depleted.

"I would've thought you a teenage girl by your mood swings," she confided.

He threw a pillow at her.

* * *

><p><span>KALI<span>

* * *

><p>Okay, for one thing, Kali liked sleeping like any other adolescent. But she <em>hated <em>dreaming; especially since she found out she was a demigod. Especially today.

So when Kali finally decided it was lights-out, she dreamed like there was no tomorrow.

She was back in the suffocating darkness that chilled her bones and made her want to scream, that locked her bones in place and left her unable to move. There was no Amicus now. She was completely alone. She took deep, rattling breaths. Kali was unused to darkness. She grew up in a circus, with flashing lights and bangs and things. She hated darkness and silence. She liked noise and bright flashes and colorful props and posters and costumes.

After she collected herself, getting goosebumps along the way, she told herself, _Darkness is the absence of light. If I do a light spell, it'll go away. _She repeated that phrase in her head, over and over again, until she finally got the strength to do it.

For once in her life, the spell didn't work. It sent a wave of panic and fear through Kali; to her, magic was as reliable as her own legs. Without it, she couldn't do much.

She heard distant laughter-deep, rumbling laughter, the cackling of a madman, coming closer and closer and ever so closer till Kali almost screamed and she could almost smell the bad breath of the murderer that was about to chop her head off-

And suddenly, two bright lights illuminated her darkness, and she could make out three figures approaching her. One was of a lady, holding the two sources of the light. The other two seemed like pets, bounding around her ankles and under her dress. With each step, the darkness faded more quickly, until the entire Field of Mars was illuminated.

Kali sighed in relief. "Mom."

"Daughter," Hecate said warmly. Her polecat farted, but Kali just adapted to not smelling anything. Her mother's coal-black eyes stared at her, somehow looking interested, her long blond hair tied up in high ponytail, her shimmery black dress so smooth and silky it resembled ink. Just as Kali remembered her. "Greetings."

"Hey," Kali greeted her. "Thanks for helping me out."

"You're welcome," Hecate said. "Now, I know what you're thinking. No, Kali, I have not visited you to assist your sorcery. I come with a warning."

"Huh?" Kali was confused.

"Kali, you must go on the quest," Hecate said gravely. "It is the only way the Dark One can be defeated."

"Wait a second, what-who-?"

The dream morphed into a horror scene, Kali falling off a cliff and tumbling, tumbling, almost at the ground, her heart beating so hard it hurt-

She forced her eyes open and sat up in bed, breathing heavily. People were getting up groggily, and sunlight was slanting through their barracks. It was peaceful and safe. Nothing like the horrific nightmare she had.

But her heart wouldn't stop pounding. Kali sighed, pushed the dream away, and put her morning smile on.

* * *

><p><strong>And...that was Chapter Two! I know it's kind of short and not really interesting, but this is kind of a filler chapter. The second chapter of a story is always the worst, in my opinion. To write, that is.<strong>

**Thank you so much, reviewers for your support and faith in me. I won't let you guys down.**

**FUN FACT ABOUT THE AUTHOR THAT YOU PROBABLY AREN'T INTERESTED: I do, in fact, do exactly as Kali does with her hair before I go to bed. My hair is a lot like hers-curly brownish-blond(at times, but my relatives keep saying it's light and blondish-I think it's darker than that) and very frizzy if not managed correctly. So I gather it up into a bun so I don't have to spend five hours struggling with my own hair.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my good friend RedBaron15, who is a RL friend of mine at school, actually. His fanfics are pretty good, check 'em out. He's a Hufflepuff and he knows it, and he won't be denying it if he knows what's good for him, but he's a cool dude. And he's one of the only people I know who are interested in PJO/HoO. SO yeah. Go, Red Baron. Woo hoo!**

**Next chapter hopefully will be better. It's late, so this is probably why this chapter is so crappy. Goodnight, everyone. May Hecate haunt your dreams.**

** -The Mourning Sage**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

* * *

><p><span>RAINA<span>

* * *

><p>The silence was overwhelming as Raina and Julia trudged silently to the fifth gate along the perimeter of Camp Jupiter. Raina being supposedly "an Underworld kid" and Julia being "experienced", they got the most dangerous, dark gate, the one that got monsters the most. They had been given emergency flares in case of, well, an emergency, but Raina was pretty sure nothing serious would happen.<p>

She knew that her "big brother", whoever he was, was only playing with them. In the brief time he had been in her mind, she'd felt an immense amount of murky, dark power, almost overwhelming. She knew the whoever this god was, he could destroy Camp Jupiter within a blink of an eye.

It had been five days since the attack in the Field of Mars, five days since the patrols had begun. Raina and Julia always guarded the fifth gate during the night, and were excused from morning duties and allowed to sleep during the day, which was fine for Raina. As much as she hated Nyx, she always felt stronger, less vulnerable, in darkness. It also meant she could successfully stay away from Amicus and Kali-two stalkers. They were always trying to talk to her for some reason. It was annoying.

They reached their post and Julia set down the lantern she had been holding, sitting down on the rough gravel. Raina didn't relax so easily. Guarding a dangerous gate with potential attack with Julia was not on Raina's bucket list. So she just did what she was supposed to and stood guard, her hand resting carefully on her scythe.

Eventually, Raina got tired of standing and sat down too, deciding to review her Latin in her head. She could practically hear the crickets chirping. There was nothing to do.

Surprisingly, Julia spoke up. "You're in danger."

_Huh? _Raina was confused. Was Julia talking to her? "Pardon?"

"You're in danger," Julia repeated resolutely, her blue eyes fixed on the invisible horizon. They contrasted sharply with her olive skin, like orbs of light against darkness. "I've seen it-in my dreams, voices whisper to me about your fate. The auguries-they show me how much you're in danger. You don't have much time left."

With a sudden irritation, Raina snapped, "You think I don't know?" she snarled, lashing out. "You think I'm not aware I'm going to die? Newsflash, Kahale! I know I'm going to die in a few months. Weeks. Maybe even days. Who knows? I could very easily die right now. And I don't care anymore."

Julia's eyes lifted to her own. They were different-instead of hatred and derision, they were filled with sadness. "It's sad," Julia said slowly. "How demigods die so quickly. In the blink of an eye. Boom. Gone. Just because some god was pissed off or some monster got hungry. And there's nothing we can do about it. Nothing at all. Even in Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood-we aren't safe. We never are. And-it just makes me sad how demigods die all the time doing errands the gods should be doing and they accept it so easily, so innocently. Like it's normal for someone to die before they've even become adults. Like it's okay for a seven year old kid to die because of some curse or some god or monster or whatever."

Raina stared at her. This wasn't the Julia Kahale she knew. This was an entirely new person.

Raina sighed. "I think," she said tiredly, "that we accept it because you can't run away from fate. You can't fool death. If you do, if you just try to live for once, you'll end up like Sisyphus- eternally tormented just for wanting a little more time."

After ten tense minutes, Julia spoke again. "I'm sorry."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry, Raina," Julia said quietly. "I was a total jerk to you over the last few years. I'm sorry about that. I…I was trying to prove that I could be tough for a descendant of Venus. I was trying to prove that just because my dad was friends with Octavian and my mom was Octavian's sister doesn't mean I was like them. And I got carried away. In the end, I turned out just like him."

"We don't choose who our parents are," Raina murmured. "I've learned that. But we can pave our own way. We can step out of their shadows. We can be remembered not for who our parents are, but for what we are."

The conversation died. As she stared into the murky darkness of the night, Raina wondered what Aaron would've done. Aaron Calling, son of Mercury, and Raina's best friend until two years ago, when he died on a quest, minutes after he'd Iris-messaged her. She had known him for seven years, ever since she had stumbled into Camp Jupiter at the age of eight. She remembered how carefree and happy he was, how he would solve a problem in ways Raina could never understand. He'd been smart and funny and wonderful, like the mischevious older brother Raina never had. And then he'd been ripped away from her, just like that. She was never the same since. Her heart still felt heavy with grief whenever she thought of him. He'd died young. Only fifteen. He'd joked with her about stealing a hot Mercedes when he'd get his driver's license. Now he would never do that, because a stupid drakon killed him on a stupid quest. When his fellow questers arrived with the news, Raina couldn't believe it. _It was like the drakon was aiming for him the entire time, _one of them had said. _It never took its eyes off him. _

And later, when Raina had stopped bursting into tears whenever somebody mentioned the word _drakon _or _Mercury, _her mother had visited her dreams and told her, flatly and without emotion, about her curses. It had been a dark time. Raina barely ate. She would go days without speaking. People eventually left her alone. They got the message. Occasionally, someone would try to make her more sociable, more amicable, but Raina rebuffed any attempts to be befriended. She refused to sit at other people's tables. She didn't laugh at jokes. It was months before she cracked even the smallest of smiles. She lost the desire to live, and yet she didn't want to die. She mutely did her duty as a legionnaire the best she could, and three months later, she was a centurion.

But she didn't really care that much. Not at all. All she wanted was to achieve something that would put her in Elysium, to see her father and Aaron once more.

"You know…" Julia muttered. "There's a senate meeting tomorrow. About Rachel Dare's prophecy."

Ah, yes. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Greek oracle, had recited a prophecy completely in Latin, which meant it was a Roman prophecy. Translated, it said:

_If night, death, and sorcery do not follow the trail,_

_The Dark One, the Keeper of Souls, shall surely prevail,_

_And he will rise from his deepest, darkest sleep,_

_For he will have one condemned soul to keep,_

_And in the moment of direst need of aid,_

_One shall be reaped by one's own trusty blade._

It was a murky, mysterious prophecy, a prophecy that chilled Raina to the bone. It looked bleak. Whoever this Dark One was, he sure could pack a punch. War veterans had met in emergency meetings to discuss what he was, but even the brightest of Athena and Minerva campers could not discern who he was and what he was going to do. It made Raina feel unstable. She hated it when she had no idea who her adversary was.

She'd already given the subject a lot of thought, in the silent, dark nights in which she stood guard at the gates. She knew this was her quest. Night, sorcery, death. Resonated perfectly with her. And besides, it was about time she died anyway. She was almost seventeen, and strangely okay with that thought.

Maybe it was her mother's influence over her, but Raina felt calm and collected. To her, the night felt reassuring and familiar, something that welcomed her in its starry arms. She could see everything at night, hear the quiet chirping of crickets, feel the San Francisco humidity. She didn't feel alien at night.

Raina leaned her head back and gazed at the stars.

* * *

><p><span>AMICUS<span>

* * *

><p>"Wakey, wakey!"<p>

Amicus darted up. It wasn't fun to wake up at the sound of Kali screaming the above words in your ear. He thought he'd get used to it-this was Kali's way of being an alarm clock-after nearly a week, but it seemed that Kali's voice had a special quality of being loud and jarring.

Kali was hanging upside down from her bunk, her long curly hair all over her face. She was smiling like an insane clown. She was already dressed and ready.

He bumped his head on the bunk above him. "Ah," he grunted. "Gods, Kali."

She smirked. "Welcome to the Twelfth Legion Fulminata! Get used to it, buddy!" She seemed extra excited today. "Guess what?" she asked.

"What?" he groaned, rubbing the bump on his head morosely.

"Today's the senate meeting!" she chirped. "And we're invited!"

"Huh?" he asked. "What? I thought only centurions and stuff were invited to those."

"Well, remember that prophecy?" she said as she jumped down from her bunk. She bounced up and down excitedly. "The spooky Dark One thing? They invited all the Underworld kids to attend in case they know anything. I'm an Underworld kid. You're an Underworld kid. We're invited!"

He slipped his sneakers on. He didn't get why Kali was so happy. When he thought of a senate meeting, he imagined a school auditorium filled with boring dudes in togas, arguing. It didn't seem fun.

He glanced around. Julia was tucking the ends of her toga into her belt, where two or three poor Beanie Babies hung. "Do we have to wear togas too?" he asked. Julia looked ridiculous. There were large circles around her eyes and she was holding some sort of weapon, so she reminded Amicus of that raccoon from _Guardians of the Galaxy_.

"Ah, no, only cents," she dismissed. "That's the fun part about having a low rank."

Figured that Kali would find it fun to be in the lowest rank. Amicus sighed. He glanced around the room, until his eyes rested on Raina, a few bunks away. She was dressed in a toga too, sipping coffee. She looked tired and gaunt-more so than usual, that was. She looked in his direction and his eyes darted away, not wanting to look like he had been staring.

"Hello," a quaint voice said in his ear. Amicus jumped a foot into the air. He still had not gotten used to those freaky Lares, even if he _was _the son of Pluto. They just reminded him too much of Peeves. If you don't know who Peeves is, though, go sort your life out.

He spun around. "Sweet mother of-don't _scare me like that!"_

Vitellius and his daughter, Scipia, tut-tutted as their purple forms floated off of the ground. "One would've thought," Scipia speculated in her teenage girl tone that Amicus had learned to dislike ever since he had entered middle school and had intensified during high school, "that the son of Pluto would have been more…hard-hearted."

"Or even plain brave," Vitellius began to rant. "Demigods these days. D-list. You just don't get Percy Jackson or Jason Grace any more these days. I'd even settle for the Valdez boy. Not you lot, with your dramatic love lives-"

"I don't have a love life for it to be dramatic-"

"Your disrespect for your elders, and your screaming whenever you get a papercut. Did you know Jason Grace got stabbed in the gut with an Imperial Gold blade, and he didn't even bat an eye? Did you know Nico di Angelo walked through Tartarus, _willingly? _Did you know Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase held the sky up, _respectively?_ DID YOU KNOW THAT LEO VALDEZ AND HAZEL LEVESQUE DIED AND CAME BACK TO LIFE? Back in my day, we got wounded all the time, and WE LOVED IT!" Spectral spit flew from his mouth, he was so enthusiastic.

"I think that is called masochism," Amicus wondered as he flinched from Vitellius' saliva, it being able to touch him because of his dear father's abilities. "Common with insane people."

"Bah. See, Scipia? See what the demigods of the now have become? I'm disgusted," Vitellius crossed his arms as he indirectly scolded Amicus and the rest of the current generation of demigods.

Scipia sighed like she hated her life. Or, her afterlife. Whatever. "Well, what Daddy is trying to tell you here is that if the world is gonna be saved and darkness is to be thwarted and blah, blah, blah, you're just going to have to get your head out of your stupid anime or Doctor Who or Star Trek or Harry Potter stuff or whatever and man up and go on the quest."

"Anime is _not stupid," _Amicus replied furiously, which should've been a bad sign, since that meant Amicus prioritized Japanese cartoons over the fate of the world. But really, who didn't? "And why should I be the one to go on this 'quest' anyways? I'm still a _probatio! _And, as your 'Daddy' so helpfully pointed out, I'm D-list!"

Scipia rolled her eyes. She glowed spectral purple like most Roman Lares, but apparently she had died at sixteen or seventeen, because she was as moody, dramatic, and annoying as a modern teenage girl. Nothing really seemed to faze her. "Well, your _dad _told us to pass on the message, so pay attention anyways. Last time I didn't listen to my dad, I ended up like _this." _She gestured disgustedly at herself. "Purple is _so _not my color."

Vitellius shook his head. "I told you not to go out with that shady kid. I knew he was a telekhine in disguise. But no, Daddy Vitellius is just a batty old son of Asclepius who's lost his marbles."

"Wait a second," Amicus made a _time-out _gesture with his hands. "My _dad _told you this?"

"Yeah," Scipia said, examining her nails. "Pretty much."

"But-but-he doesn't care about me!" Amicus protested. "He barely knows I exist!"

Vitellius and Scipia smiled at each other knowingly. "Isn't that what they all say," Vitellius said, amused. With a snap of his fingers and a blown kiss from Scipia, they disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

Kali joined him and patted his head empathetically. "I know, I know," she said to his infuriated face. "Lares can be super annoying."

"Why can't they just leave me alone?" Amicus grouched.

Kali shrugged. "You are the son of Pluto," she suggested. "Besides, I think they're on Team Gale and they're pissed that you're not."

Amicus frowned. "What do you know about the Hunger Games anyway?"

"I don't know anything. I just overheard two Venus girls talking about it," she said innocently. "And I just thought you wouldn't be a Team Gale person, and Scipia would. Anyway, is the Hunger Games like one of those cooking competitions with people like Gordon Ramsey who yell at people or something?"

Amicus stared at her blankly. "Are you kidding?"  
>"No, no," she shook her head earnestly. "Not at all. My dad didn't let me watch it, so I thought maybe Gordon swore when he yelled at the cooks or something."<p>

"The Hunger Games is about a society that sends children to battle to the death every year as a reality TV show," Amicus said skeptically.

Kali widened her eyes. "Wow," she said. "Must be a fantasy series, then."

"Huh?"

"Humans don't have that type of cruelty," Kali said lightly, freely. "They wouldn't willingly kill kids. Maybe they used to, back in the old days, but now? We're civilized human beings. Stuff like that doesn't happen anymore."

Amicus suddenly remembered the terrible night two months ago when his mother had died. Swiftly and quickly. He had been doing his English homework, struggling as usual, when the chimera had burst into the house. It burned it down to ashes. He'd barely made it out alive, and nobody had believed him when he'd told them about it. Everybody was strict and emotionless as they charged him for arson, diagnosed him with shock and PTSD and depression when he told them about the chimera, made him force down weird pills that made him feel funny. Life had seemed an awful lot uncivilized back then.

He glanced at Kali. She was still as happily oblivious as ever. She honestly believed that humanity wasn't that bad. He didn't want to crush the kid's dreams, though. He nodded and went along. "I guess."

People were filing out of the barracks. Julia called out, "Grave, Trix! Stop yapping and get moving!" She seemed especially grumpy today. Raina, next to her, rolled her eyes and sipped coffee indifferently. Amicus did not comprehend 90% of the Roman legion, it seemed.

* * *

><p><span>KALI<span>

* * *

><p>Kali had never been to a senate meeting before, and that was what made her extra invigorated today. To add to her list of the things she loved, new things was one of them. She loved it back in the day when the circus would receive new animals. The ringmaster always let her name them.<p>

She shook her head and kind of skipped next to Amicus. She had to hurry to keep up with him. Since he was a reasonably-sized sixteen year old and she was an undersized twelve year old, his legs were much longer than hers.

"Gee, I wonder what it's like inside the Senate House," she mused. "It's probably huge, with golden chairs and seat warmers and a vending machine."

"Mm-hm," Amicus said, cocking an eyebrow. "With a magical portal to Idris, too?"

"What?" Kali said, confused. "What are you referencing now?"

"The Mortal Instru-you know what, just forget it," Amicus said resignedly.

Kali shrugged. "'Kay."

They stopped at the slowly forming line where Terminus the insane border god 'patted down' demigods before they entered New Rome. Kali could see his newest young helper darting around with a tray, taking magic weapons and objects and pointing at places in the stead of the armless statue. She could hear Terminus' voice-so much like Vitellius's!-ranting on and on about how somebody's hair was a half-millimeter above regulation, or the sanctity of pants one inch above the ankle, or how girls should have their hair tied up in buns instead of "hanging around like hillbilly Greeks". When someone would point out they had been allies with the Greeks for the past twenty years or so, Terminus wouldn't want to hear it.

He finally got to Amicus and stared at him intensely, telling him that he was patting him down. "No funny business in my borders, son of Pluto," Terminus warned. "I already don't like that hair of yours. Don't make me slap you!"

Fortunately, Amicus knew enough not to talk back. Terminus was still ranting about haircuts when he got to Kali. "Kali Trix, aged twelve?"

"And a half."

He stared at her intensely and Kali pretended to be terrified for his sake. "Ditch the bandannas and tie your hair up," he concluded. "You look like a gypsy."

"But-"

"No buts!"

Kali ducked and ran into New Rome, Terminus still shouting about bandannas behind her.

Well, you couldn't please everybody. She eventually caught up with Amicus, who, surprisingly, was waiting for her. They followed the string of demigods passing through the streets of the city they so valiantly protected, passing tribute statues-one for each of the Seven, one for Reyna Arellano, the former great praetor of Rome, and one for Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades. They were scattered strategically around the city, so you couldn't go anywhere without passing at least one of them. Kids only a few years younger than Kali played tag in the streets, while weary parents looked on. Some college students waved at the demigods, remembering their own days as legionnaires. It was tranquil and peaceful as a demigod city could be; as if the Dark One's attack on the legion had never happened; as if it had been only a bad dream. It had certainly seemed like it. Kali remembered her mother's words from five nights before:

_Kali, you must go on the quest, _her mother had warned her. _It is the only way the Dark One can be defeated._

Kali gulped. Having learned much about her mother over the past six months, she knew it was wise-more than wise, actually, essential was a better word-to follow her advice. Hecate was all about light and darkness, Mist, hidden meanings, mystery, and choices. If anyone could advise her where the python lay, if anyone could guide her to making the right choice, it was Hecate. If anyone truly knew what was best for her-and the rest of the camp-it was Hecate.

But still, Kali knew her chances of being on the quest were miniscule. She had barely gleaned her first stripe. She technically wasn't even supposed to be a full member of the legion yet. She was one of the youngest legionnaires there. Why would the Senate send _her _in a vital, world-saving quest? She wasn't even that learned in magic yet. Her years of watching her dad do the voodoo stuff didn't count. She only knew about fifty spells, and half of them she hadn't mastered yet. And she knew nobody would take her seriously.

Besides, it wasn't as if going on a dangerous quest was on Kali's bucket list, either. She liked New Rome and had heard stories of sleeping in sewers and barely escaping monsters-and, ultimately, death. Quests weren't supposed to be fun, and fun was Kali's middle name. Well, not really. Kali's middle name was Felicia, but it made her feel like a cat, so she didn't really share it.

They filed into the magnificent Senate, finally-the Greek ambassador sitting on a chair at the foot of the two praetors, where Cal and Allison sat, heads bent together, discussing something with urgency. Raina had seated herself in her place at the front row of the section designated for the Fifth Legion, calmly regarding the scene. Knowing Amicus was probably staring at her and didn't want to be bothered in the act of being a stalker, she looked around, taking it all in, like she usually did with new places. She remembered her dad telling her that he didn't have to buy a video camera as long as he had her. Being six at the time, Kali had taken this very seriously, and an hour, a crayon, some yarn and a piece of cardboard later, she was parading around the circus site with a sign hanging around her chest, on which one could barely make out "VIDEO CAMERA". A dyslexic six year old had written it, so do the math.

Ah, good times, good times.

Kali spotted Julia taking her seat besides Raina, scowling and looking as sour as usual. Clint Gavin from the Apollo cabin was singing Ariana Grande songs and all his friends were trying to get him to shut up. The Lares floated in miscellaneously, randomly sitting halfway into random demigods who emitted rather random sounds when they realized half a ghost resided in them. Fortunately, Kali was not one of those demigods. Unfortunately, ghosts tended to like Amicus, so he had two of them. And guess who they were.

"Hello again, dork," Scipia said boredly, blowing on her brand-new manicure. Kali wondered if there was a special type of nail polish made of ectoplasm or something just for ghosts. She could imagine it:

_Stylish Spooks: Find the Girl in your Ghost! Colors come in: The Blood of Our Enemies, The Screams of the Damned, and other fun hues!_

Kali shook her head. Stupid ADHD.

Vitellius, however, got pissed off. "Scipia, you can't just call the _son of the Lord of the Dead_ a _dork. _It's unspeakable!"

Scipia rolled her eyes. "Fifteen minutes ago you were calling him a wimpy, D-list demigod, Dad."

Vitellius got purple in the face. "That was different! I was indirectly scolding him! You, however, with your stupid 'nineties' slangs-"

"Dad, this isn't even the nineties anymore!"

"All are the same, nothing like 300 BC, what a year! Anyway, your nineties slangs, and your weird bands, and that strange obsession you have with that awful band-what's its name?-Single Way? Singular Path?"

"One Direction?" she suggested, facepalming.

"Yes, yes, One Direction!" Vitellius gestured with his ghostly hands. "When will you ever grow up?"  
>Scipia looked hurt, then angry. "Ugh!" she screamed, and disappeared in a flash of smoke.<p>

Vitellius scowled. "Oh, so now I'm the bad guy?" he said, disgruntled. He disappeared in a grouchy puff of smoke, too.

Once Kali and Amicus cleared the smoke, Amicus let out a low whistle. "Drama queen ghosts. Better than reality television."

Kali frowned. "That looked intense. Thank the gods it only happens on TV."

Amicus looked at her weirdly. "Teenagers fight with their parents all the time, Kali. What do you mean?"

Kali was confused. "What? But don't teenagers like their parents? Don't the parents like the teenagers?"

Amicus' frown lines looked deeper. "Kali-"

Cal banged his gladius against the ground, creating large _boom _sounds that echoed through the Senate and silenced the demigods. "Silence!" his voice boomed for extra measure.

"Let the meeting commence," Allison said grimly.

* * *

><p><strong>And that was Chapter Three! Sorry, I know it was a long wait, but I've been delayed for the following reasons:<strong>

**1- Writer's block**

**2-Reconsidering life choices**

**3-Homework**

**4-Homework**

**5-Homework**

**6-Anxiety over whether this is a good story or not**

**But Chapter Four is coming up soon. You'll see Raina, Amicus, and Kali again, don't worry.**

**A little note or maybe two:**

**Vitellius is, in fact, the ridiculous Lar that we encountered in _Son of Neptune. _I created Scipia for multiple undisclosed reasons. You'll find more out about her later on in the story. _  
><em>**

**Also, the part where Vitellius and Scipia argue in Kali's POV-what Vitellius was doing is called _gaslighting, _and it is a form of verbal abuse. It happens to everyone. It's even happened to me a couple of times. It doesn't mean that Vitellius or any other parent who does this is an awful demon from Hell. It just means they've made a parenting mistake. It can happen to anybody; even you could do it accidentally in future. Gaslighting can cause psychological damage, and anxiety. It's sort of serious. This is the first moral from this story, which is: IT'S OKAY TO MISUNDERSTAND YOUR PARENTS SOMETIMES. Parents think of stuff us teenagers are into the way we think about those really bad kid shows that come out all the time, like Dora the Explorer or whatever. They're from a different generation and don't understand ours. That's it. Bottom line.**

**ALSO: Peeves, as mentioned in this chapter, is a very prominent character in Harry Potter-the poltergeist that inhabits Hogwarts and makes it its mission to make every human being feel miserable. He's known for his stupid jokes and his amazing pranks. If you needed this, go sort your life out, and get the Harry Potter boxed set, because you're missing out in the game of life.**

**I'm beginning to really like Vitellius and Scipia, actually. You'll be seeing them a lot, probs.**

**This chapter's dedication goes to: SkyTyper, a great friend of mine and pure genius in the form of a boy. I think RedBaron and I would've failed our science project without him. So thanks, SkyTyper, for being a good little nerd. JK. We're all nerds. That's why we're all on this website.**

**Farewell, valiant readers. Your loyalty astounds me and inspires me. I will not fail you. Stay awesome.**

** -The Mourning Sage**


End file.
